The present invention relates to a regenerative heater and the process for the operation thereof, wherein the regenerative heater includes a regenerator container containing therein a fill of heat retaining material which is permeable to air and gas, wherein gas is conveyed through the heat retaining material in opposite directions as charging and discharging flows of gas, and wherein a source of heat is arranged in front of the heat retaining material taken in the direction of the charging flow of gas.
A regenerative heater of this type is known from German DT-OS No. 19 39 534. Such known regenerative heater includes a regenerative oven containing a fill of ceramic particles provided in a bottle-like container having a closed bottom and an open top. When the regenerative oven is charged, air is led past a source of heat, through the open top of the container, and into the fill. After the air yields its heat to the fill, the air escapes laterally to the exterior through the walls of the container. During the discharging operation, fresh air is led laterally through the walls of the container and into the fill. After the air is heated by receiving heat from the fill, the air is removed through the upper open end of the container. The operation of this known regenerative heater is however disadvantageously affected by the fact that both the charging and discharging flows of air are provided from relatively open circuits, and thus the effects of heating the fill and heating the discharging flow of air are difficult to accurately control. The known regenerative heater is further disadvantageous in that the charging air is removed from the container and the discharging air is introduced into the container through relatively small lateral openings in the walls of the container. This makes it very difficult to obtain contact between the respective flows of air and all of the ceramic particles in the fill. Thus, the heat exchange between the flows of gas and the particles of the fill is inefficient.